Officials to rename Mt. Juliet Animal Shelter

Mt. Juliet officials will rebrand the Mt. Juliet Animal Shelter, but said facility staff, volunteers and residents will not see any operational changes.

Mt. Juliet City Manager Kenny Martin said the shelter would be renamed Mt. Juliet Animal Control to match the initial purpose and current operational style of the facility.

“It started out as, and is currently, an animal control facility,” said Martin, who said he oversaw the city’s animal control operations in the past.

He said the change came from conversations with other city officials after residents and other people who see the facility’s name often mistaken it for an animal shelter and not a city-operated animal control facility.

Martin said the city’s “shelter” operates like a true animal control facility, unlike other shelters in the area that are privately owned such as New Leash on Life or Country K-9 Rescue.

The city’s animal control division, which includes animal control officers and other volunteers, is responsible for investigating animal cruelty, reports of rabid animals and animal bites, according to the city’s website. Animal control officers have the ability to enforce the leash law and other city ordinances regulating dogs, cats and other animals.

“There are some similarities, but the goal of our operation is to keep the people of the city safe in the community,” Martin said.

The facility accepts stray, abandoned, injured and homeless dogs that are within Mt. Juliet city limits. The facility only accepts cats that are injured or unable to care for themselves, such as un-weaned and motherless kittens.

“Nothing, as far as operations of our animal control program, is changing at all,” Martin said.